College Days

Elsewhere in the academy, Katharine looked up.

She is the head of the Evangelistic Department of the Temple of Light. She came to the school today to inspect related work.

Within the temple's organizational structure, the Evangelistic Department was the superior administrative body for these schools. The headmaster, Havel, accompanied them personally, along with several priests.

Katharine frowned.

The aura just now was very peculiar, and it even had a faint hint of the abyss.

This is Holy Light Academy, how could something like this possibly appear here?

Katharine instinctively became suspicious: Could it be that someone is up to something shady here?

She raised her hand, signaling to her entourage that they didn't need to follow.

"I'll rest for a bit, then I'll go check on my daughter."

After saying that, Katharine left.

As she rounded the corner, the "mirage" ornament on her body disintegrated, forming an illusion identical to her real self, and continued "walking" towards Yise's dormitory.

Katharine herself concealed herself and quickly headed in the direction from which the aura was coming. It was a secluded corner on the edge of the academy.

A stone-built pool is hidden in the middle of the woods, surrounded by moss and weeds, and students rarely come near it on weekdays.

When Katharine arrived, the scene before her made her pause for a moment.

Four teenagers lay on the ground.

Their bodies bore no wounds, but their faces were frozen in terror. The color had vanished completely from their skin, as if life itself had been drained away.

A little girl with pink hair was soaking wet, her clothes were torn at the shoulder, and blood was still flowing down her forehead.

She raised one hand.

Four beams of ghostly light, formed from condensed souls, swirled around her slender wrist before being absorbed into her body.

The power fluctuations emanating from it were extremely abnormal, clearly indicating that it was possessed by some powerful soul.

"What kind of evil thing is this!" Katharine was furious.

The "Green Bamboo Slips and Rue Book Wrappers" materialized in her hand, and the "Sacred Imprisonment" unfolded, with golden light solidifying into chains that instantly bound Jelus tightly.

But the girl did not struggle or resist; instead, she stood there bound in the chains, her quietness unsettling. The magical light shone on her wet face, her eyes calm and serene, devoid of bloodlust or cruelty.

This is definitely not an ordinary case of evil spirit possession!

****

Katharine paused briefly.

Her gaze swept over Gerald's wound on her forehead, her torn clothes, and her schoolbag floating in the pool.

Combined with the appearance of the four corpses on the ground...

"Stanton, Yuya!"

Katharine called out.

In the air, two figures of the Winged Race appeared, both wearing robes that obscured their identities and masks that concealed their faces.

They landed, each with a bulging bag on their back.

"Nailed it."

Stanton shrugged and shook the bag, which immediately produced a crisp clinking sound. It contained a large amount of gold coins.

During today's inspection, Katharine not only openly stalled Havel, but also secretly investigated the locations of the guards and the watchful array.

Stanton and Yuya then proceeded to destroy Havel's private vault hidden within the academy.

"Not bad." Katharine nodded.

Their goal is not wealth.

However, money is indispensable for developing civilian clergy organizations within the church, and the more the better.

The expenses for publicity work are one aspect.

At the same time, with just a small amount of money, those ordinary elites can significantly improve their lives and studies, and more smoothly enhance their abilities.

Katharine looked at Gerus, who remained calm, as if the shackles binding her did not exist.

Do you know what's going on here?

Stanton immediately stepped back and pointed at Yuya.

"Ask her!" Yuya was an admirer of Chloe, the scholar with the gray curls, and she usually read extensively like Chloe, with a wide range of interests.

She walked up to Gerus, released a few wisps of her delicate senses, and carefully examined her.

A moment later, Yuya actually found some clues.

"They are the Qi Nian tribe."

Yuya drew a conclusion.

The Qi Nian tribe can seize the bodies of other living beings to form various kinds of parasitic life forms.

"Didn't this thing go extinct three thousand years ago?!" Katharine was very puzzled.

While taking over another's body is certainly powerful, it also makes one an enemy of the biological world, with their weaknesses being sought out and targeted in various ways.

"Perhaps it's hidden in some corner, a remnant?" Stanton shrugged.

It's not particularly unusual for species declared extinct to be found sporadically in some place.

"That little girl is really unfortunate," said Katharine.

Yuya continued her exploration and discovered even more unusual places.

"This abyssal creature is of a very high rank."

"I can't determine the exact level; it might be at least a Grand Magister."

Yuya was amazed.

"It's unbelievable that he couldn't take the lead when facing a little girl!"

She looked around and deduced what had happened.

"This Gignavie is the eldest daughter of the Ezra family, and a notorious bully at the academy."

Yuya glanced at the girl's corpse on the ground.

"She's really asking for trouble, daring to provoke the possessed by a legendary creature."

Her expression was mocking as she clicked her tongue.

"It's good that this person was punished by Heaven; now I believe in karma again."

**** Within the golden chains, Gerald's eyes suddenly froze.

That calm, which was not typical of a child, vanished quickly from her face like the receding tide.

Gerus stared in disbelief at the scene around her, her face turning deathly pale.

"I..."

Katharine removed the restraints from Gerald's body.

The golden chains, like burnt paper, receded from the light into the darkness, then dissipated into floating dust.

Gerald's legs went weak, and she squatted down on the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Tears streamed down her face.

"I was just too hungry... that's why I couldn't control her..."

"It's all my fault..."

She clutched her head tightly, her body trembling violently. The girl was clearly conscious; something abnormal was parasitizing her body.

Yuya was full of praise.

"Abyssal creatures have an instinctive desire to devour souls."

"She's managed to suppress it all this time; what a resilient child."

Katharine sighed; she knew all too well.

She picked up the schoolbag from the water and opened it. The notebook was soaked through; only the girl's name, Gerald, was barely legible.

He was in third grade and not even ten years old yet.

The handwriting above is somewhat awkward, yet it is written meticulously, clearly showing great care.

"What should we do?" Yuya asked.

Katharine closed her notebook.

"This misfortune is not the child's fault."

She stood up and made a decision. "We should help her."

Is there a way to remove this abyssal creature?

Yuya shook her head.

"Stripping is impossible, but sealing is possible."

"This abyssal creature has no physical form; it exists solely as an ideology, much like a parasitic personality."

"So, all we need to do is seal away the related 'memories' in the girl's mind."

****

A few minutes later, Yise arrived hastily, guided by the illusion of Katharine.

Her long, golden hair was slightly disheveled, and her breathing was somewhat rapid.

"Little Yi, did you bring the Raven Key?" Katharine asked.

Yise immediately pulled a black key shaped like a raven's wings from his collar.

"Do you remember how I taught you to use it?" Katharine asked. "Yes, I remember!" Yise nodded vigorously.

This key was actually left by Valevi to Yise.

Katharine was simply following her will, handing over the items and instructions on how to use them as Valivi had left behind.

She herself is not a member of the tassel clan and therefore cannot unleash its power.

"Then seal the child away," Katharine said to Yise.

Yise gripped the Raven Key tightly; the small metal object seemed a little too large in her palm.

She walked up to Gerus and knelt down.

Gerald was still huddled by the pool, her pink hair plastered to her forehead and cheeks, her eyes red.

Seeing Yise approach, she instinctively shrank back.

"I'll help you deal with that monster, okay?" Yise said gently.

Gerus bit her lip, saying nothing, but also no longer trying to hide.

Yise held the key to Gerus's forehead and then closed his eyes. Magic Power flowed along the key's lines, and purple light seeped from the key's surface, then seeped into Gerus's forehead.

Gerus's body trembled slightly; she bit her lip, making no sound.

The threads multiplied, following the spiritual veins of Jelus deeper and deeper, searching for traces belonging to the Qi Nian Clan.

A vortex of Magic Power swirled between the two, lifting Yise's long hair.

Some of the white hairs hidden within were picked out by the wind from the depths of her golden hair, drifting in the magical light.

****

The Raven Key emitted a very low chime, then everything was retracted and returned to its dim state.

Jelusi was very cooperative throughout the entire process.

The moment the seal was completed, her tense body relaxed and she fell backward.

Katharine reached out and caught Gerald.

After investigating, she found no trace of the abyss.

Afterwards, Katharine briefly instructed Yise to take Gerald with her. The "Mirage" ornament unfolded, and a layer of distorted light covered the two little girls, completely concealing their figures, and they quietly departed.

Stanton looked at the corpse on the ground.

"The remaining question—how are we going to explain the deaths of these four people?"

Katharine had already come up with a plan.

"Simple."

They claimed to be the "Bonnie and Clyde Dark Thieves," who broke into the school, wreaked havoc, killed passing students, and then left.

Yuya's eyelids twitched.

Where did these "Bonnie and Clyde" come from?

She had barely finished asking the question when she noticed that Katharine had already raised her hand.

A dazzling light quickly gathered in her palm.

"Etc--"

Katharine raised her hand, unleashing a sweep of light magic; a blazing white beam of light grazed past the two winged beings. Boom!

With a loud bang, dirt, rubble, and broken trees shot into the sky behind them.

Half of the grove of trees was gone.

The pool was also smashed, and the traces left by Jelusi were "incidentally" wiped away.

Immediately afterwards, Katharine made a megaphone shape with her hands and released amplification magic.

"Thief, where do you think you're going!"

The sound traveled through the woods and resounded throughout the entire academy, causing priests to take flight and several bishops to appear.

"Dry!"

Stanton was furious.

The two winged beings hurriedly took flight and fled out of the academy at full speed.